About a week after I started telling Ellie about her basic stamina.
It's finally a more human appearance, but perhaps it was a bit too much?
“…………!!”
“Hmm….”
Maybe it was because I was too harsh on him, but he caught a terrible cold that made his whole body shiver.
I've been coughing all night, so my throat is already sore, and when I cough, I can't even make a sound.
“You don’t seem to be in good shape.”
“………….”
“Yeah, I guess it’s because I was so overly ambitious and didn’t get enough rest that I ended up like this.”
“………….”
“It’s impossible. Where can you move with that body?”
I'm trying to get up again now, without even being able to make a proper sound.
“I think I should just rest like this for the time being.”
Ellie looks very sorry, but she knows better than anyone that there is nothing more she can do in this state.
“The weather is what it is… I wonder if there’s any good herbs out there.”
“………….”
“What’s the point of suffering… If I die like this, only my dreams will be in turmoil.”
“……….”
“Okay, I get it. Just take a deep breath and wake up. When you wake up, I’ll try to prepare some edible food.”
Although she told him not to worry and that she was fine, Ellie fell asleep because she hadn't slept properly the night before, perhaps because of the accumulated fatigue.
Of course, even when I fell asleep, the coughing didn't stop properly.
“How is it?”
“The condition is not very good.”
"This is a big deal. The weather is like this. The medicine I gathered from around here isn't in good condition."
I searched through the empty houses here and there to find medicine for Ellie, but the medicine in Leo's hand was not properly managed, so blue mold was growing all over it.
“I can’t do anything because of the weather.”
“There is no way to deal with it.”
“Or how about asking Lira?”
“Well… if it were Lira, it would be really easy to solve.”
It's certainly a good method, but I'm not sure if I can completely trust them.
“It’s not good to rely too much on others.”
"but."
“It’s just a mild cold, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Haa… Then there’s nothing I can do.”
Rio shook off the thick layer of snow that had piled up on his clothes and headed straight to the kitchen.
“What are you planning to do?”
“You haven’t eaten anything since morning, have you? You should at least feed them something.”
"You probably don't have any appetite right now, so how about we do it later? Leo, you just got back from the cold outside, didn't you?"
“It’s just a little cold, but it gets hot quickly if you stay here in front of the kitchen, so it’s okay.”
Even though Rio himself says it's okay, I can't help but feel a little angry.
The only things they know how to do right now are eating, sleeping, and playing, and Ellie, the parent of those children, is sick.
Although Rio helped me out as if it were his own work, I didn't want to get even a single drop of water on his hands and feet.
Despite all the hardships I've been through, I'm a little… … … … about thinking of others before myself.
It just makes me angry.
vestige.
***
“Where did you get this?”
“I just… picked it up.”
“Huh? You brought some meat? In this weather?”
I thought I could just feed him some bear meat that I had caught, but it was frozen solid and I tried cooking it for a short time, but it was too tough for the sick to eat.
I caught a bird that was hiding from the cold outside.
“Anyway, wouldn’t this be okay for a sick person to eat?”
“Uh… I guess I’ll have to try cooking to find out, right?”
“You didn’t know?”
“Of course. I haven’t cooked that much.”
Is that obvious?
Rio also lived a life not much different from that of other homeless children, and when he was around me, other people usually cooked for him.
But I learned a lot of things quickly, so I've been cooking all along.
He seems surprised to see ingredients he has never seen before.
“What do I do with this fur? Can I eat this too?”
“No matter how you cook it, you can still eat it, right?”
“That, that’s true, but… can I cook it like that?”
“You’ll know once you try.”
Although it was only half a joke, Rio showed a look of confusion, but he took a step or two closer and snatched the bird from my hand.
“Hey, let me try it once.”
It's so funny.
I'm sure they'll be able to remove the organs from the bear carcasses lying outside and prepare the meat with their eyes closed now.
He handed me a bird as big as his own arm with his fingertips as if he were afraid.
-Fooddeok~!!
I thought I had knocked him out, but as soon as Rio grabbed his finger, he got back up and started struggling to get away.
“Eww!! What, what do I do with this! This!!!”
“What can I do? I have no choice but to hit my head hard.”
“What, what… your head?!”
“Well, you can’t cook right away when you’re running wild, right?”
“That’s true… but…….”
-Pudderdeodeok~!!
The bird's movements, struggling in Rio's grasp and wanting to escape from this place, became more intense, so he had no choice but to lightly hit it... enough to knock it out.
-Pfft!
"ah."
"ah…."
The sound that should be coming from the hammer is not coming out, and it seems like it is dead, lying there with its legs stretched out.
“Dead… right?”
“Oh, I fainted.”
“I think he’s dead.”
“Uh… I had to kill it to eat it anyway, so I just sent it so that it wouldn’t hurt a little.”
“It’s true that he was killed.”
“…………”
Rio waved the bird slightly from side to side as if to show it to me.
His torso was sagging and his eyes were unfocused.
***
Anyway, Rio said he was trying cooking for the first time, so he went outside for a bit.
-Shoooong~
I continued to move forward through the blizzard that made it impossible to see even an inch ahead.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been out this far alone.”
At least near the large northern wall, there was at least some trace of a road, but the surrounding area was already covered with snow that was swallowing up tree roots, let alone any trace of a road.
It's hard to tell if this is the right path or not.
“If I keep going like this and lose my way, I’ll be in trouble.”
If you come all this way and say you're late because you lost your way and didn't get anywhere, you might get scolded by Rio.
"ha."
“I guess it came out for no reason.”
Her black hair fluttered in the wind, and the white snow blew even harder, as if to make everyone in this white world pay attention to me.
And then I kept moving forward.
He walked and walked and walked, and even in this fierce snow storm, he kept walking without wavering an inch, and then stopped as if he had reached the place he wanted.
“I didn’t know people lived here.”
I didn't come here specifically because I was thinking of Ellie, but I didn't know there were still people living in this northern part of the country.
The village walls were built with quite elaborate stone walls, and white smoke continued to rise from the chimneys of the houses.
My heart felt a little heavy.
I was grateful that those I was supposed to protect were still alive, and fortunate that they hadn't left this place yet.
“There’s nothing more I can do for you… why?”
Now that I'm in no position to give or benevolently give anything, why haven't I abandoned this place yet?
-Crunch crunch
I just came to a village on the outskirts to see if there was any medicine, but I wonder why people still live there.
I wonder if it's okay for me to go in.
If I go in and show my face again, what will people think?
My head is a mess.
"………let's go."
I just turned around and walked away.
I am no longer a princess of the North, nor am I someone who can take anything from them.
I didn't really want to show my face again and give hope.
-Ppoddeuk poddeuk
I could have run fast, but I wonder why my legs didn't move that much back then.
Around that time, I started to slowly distance myself from that village.
“…………!!”
But from far away, someone was holding a lantern, waving at me and shouting.
Even after seeing that sight, I moved my steps.
I haven't properly dealt with the things that happened because of me, so will you still treat me like a princess?
Or maybe I wish they would throw stones and eggs at me.
Because it was a stupid thing that happened because of me.
“It was my fault… that many people were moved, but if I had let them know that it could have been easily ended, wouldn’t things have been a little different?”
-Ppoddeuk poddeuk
At the sound of my eyes quickly approaching me, I also moved my feet.
It didn't move easily.
Even though I could achieve incredible speed with a single kick, I still wanted to see to the safety of my people.
Every time you run and run and run, you chase me.
I kept getting further away, and every time I wanted to come closer and meet you.
All I could think in my head was that I wasn't worthy of it.
“I’m sorry.”
After spitting out the last word, I stormed out of the place.
Of course, without looking back.